


Playing Games

by headedfordisaster



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Love Triangles, M/M, Pining, aged-down characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:07:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24043348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headedfordisaster/pseuds/headedfordisaster
Summary: Runaan starts university with a secret, and ends up with several of them. Ethari is confused, and Aaravos - well, he just wants to have some fun.
Relationships: Aaravos/Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Lain/Tiadrin (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 48





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse for this other than this fandom lacks A/B/O fics and I'm here to provide them. 
> 
> About the world they are living in; it's basically Xadia (combined with the human kingdoms) but set in a modern world much like ours.

The lock feels like it's stuck. Runaan pushes the door with his shoulder, twists the key, pushes again, and then pulls. The door swings open and he nearly swings down to the floor with it, stumbling backwards as his heavy backpack slips down from his shoulder to hang on his arm. The suitcase he had put down to open the door is now hit by the said door and crashes to the floor.

Well. That was embarrassing.

Runaan draws in a deep breath and scrunches his nose to get rid of the redness threatening to rise to his cheeks. He's alone in the corridor, at least, _thank god,_ but if someone is going to watch the security tapes, they are going to get a good laugh.

Grabbing his stuff and the key from the lock, he quickly makes his way inside the dorm room.

It's fairly small - a small kitchenette to his left, along with what Runaan assumes to be the bathroom door, and two beds against the wall to his right. At the feet of both beds, there is a closet, and in between them, a desk with two chairs. The decor is definitely not the most impressive, but it's not the _worst,_ either.

And the room seems empty. There are no personal belongings, no shoes on the shoerack right by the door nor jackets on the clothing rack above it. Runaan is _always_ early wherever he goes, so it doesn't really surprise him. Whoever his roommate is, they must be arriving later.

Or maybe, Runaan dares to hope, _maybe_ he doesn't have a roommate to begin with. Maybe he's going to live alone. God, that would be a blessing - pretty much the only reason Runaan was dreading the start of university was the fact that he would, most likely, have to share a room with someone he doesn't even know. He's not a social person, and even if he was, he's pretty sure that he'd still like to have a little bit of privacy sometimes. He doesn't _get that_ when there's another person living and sleeping in the same room as him.

At least the bathroom has a damn lock.

Runaan sighs and kicks off his shoes, setting them down onto the shoerack. He then drags his things across the room and drops his backpack down onto the bed by the window. Pushing the suitcase to rest against the closet, he climbs onto the bed and leans onto the windowsill with his elbows, looking down.

The room is on the third floor. Runaan would prefer it to be higher - closer to the moon - but he'll take it. The view is actually quite nice - his dormitory is the one furthest away from the actual school building, and it faces the forest that grows behind the high fence. Were the room on the other side, he would only be able to see buildings behind buildings, with a couple of trees planted around as an attempt to make the yard look a little more pleasant.

Runaan glances over his shoulder at the door. If he does have a roommate, he wonders what type of an elf they are. He sort of hopes for another Moonshadow Elf, because, contrary to what he had told his parents before leaving home, he knows he's going be homesick. A good six hundred miles away from everything he has known for all the nineteen years of his life, if he has to share a living space with someone, he'd prefer it be someone who at least somewhat _looks_ familiar.

More than that though, he hopes they won't be an alpha.

Runaan pulls his phone out of his pocket and lies down onto his back, checking any texts and notifications he'd received. There's one from his mother asking for a photo of his room, and he sighs, snapping a picture while still laying down and sending it to her.

It's then that there's a loud thump from the door, and he gets startled, dropping the phone straight down to his face. Cursing under his breath, he sits up on the bed and presses a hand on his forehead, already feeling a bump forming. Ah, how great.

The door opens, much in the same manner as it did with Runaan, and he catches a sight of white hair and dark arms before there's another _thud_ and a small, "awh, ouch".

He watches doubtfully how the person steps in sight again, shaking their leg which they probably hit with the door - at least Runaan wasn't the only one embarrassing himself - and carrying three bags that look like they've been stuffed with literally all of this elf's belongings.

And then Runaan catches the scent, and he _heavily_ struggles with fighting the deepening frown off of his face. While it is something Runaan most definitely has not smelled on anyone else before - something _intense,_ something that makes him think of fire - it is still, without a doubt, the scent of an alpha male.

Well, at least he actually is a Moonshadow Elf.

The alpha lifts his head properly to look at Runaan, and he looks a little baffled before breaking into a smile, pulling the door shut behind him as he steps inside, holding the tree enormous bags with only one hand. Runaan glances down at his bare arm, and acknowledges bitterly that the guy is more muscular than he is.

"Hi!" the alpha says, dropping the bags all down to the floor with a thump. "I'm guessing you're my roommate, yeah?"

His accent is strong. He must come from the East, around here - the area has mostly elven-populated towns and cities with little to no humans. Runaan comes from the West, and altough his neighbourhood does have quite a few Moonshadow Elf families, the overall city is packed with humans. Runaan and the other elven kids quickly learned to get rid of their accents with human kids staring at them weirdly and laughing whenever they spoke up.

Which is why Runaan wanted to get here. The Xadian Elven University. He _refused_ to study another year in a classroom where he's surrounded by humans.

"Looks like it," Runaan replies. He slowly gets up from the bed and glances back down at it, before making eye-contact with the alpha. "Are you fine with me taking this bed?"

"Oh, sure, you can have it," the other laughs, sticking then his hand forward. "I'm Ethari."

Runaan hesitates for a moment, but grabs his hand then anyway. Ethari has a firm handshake, and he tries mirroring it. "Runaan."

"That's a nice name," Ethari tells him, stepping back and crossing his arms as he takes a long, observing look around the room. His eyes then land back at Runaan, who stares right back. "You are a beta?"

Runaan bites down on his lower lip. "Yeah," he says, "I am."

Ethari nods, twice, and then steps over to the kitchenette. He starts going through all the cabinets, even looks into the fridge and the oven, and Runaan sits back down to the bed and smooths the covers with his hands. He doesn't really know _what_ he's supposed to be doing. Is he really supposed to be able to live here, in this room, with another person? How do people actually _do_ that?

"Are you from around here?" Ethari asks him, now going to the bathroom door and peeking inside. Runaan hadn't even realized to do that himself earlier.

"No," Runaan replies. "I'm from the West."

"Really? All the way from the coast?"

"Pretty much."

"That's cool. I have never been there. My hometown is only a two-hour ride away from here. I have never really travelled anywhere."

"This seems like a nice area to live in, though," Runaan says. He has his phone in his hands, but he's not really doing anything with it. He just tries to look like he is to get rid of the awkwardness he feels.

"It is," Ethari hums, opening his closet before starting to unpack his things. "I wouldn't change anything, honestly."

Runaan nods his head, although Ethari is now sitting on the floor with his back facing him, so he can't see it. He grabs his backpack from the bed and gets up, slowly making his way to the bathroom. There's a mirror cabinet on top of the sink, and he claims the right side of it to himself, taking out his toothbrush and other necessities from his bag. His fingers brush against bottles of scent and heat suppressants, and he stops for a moment, before grabbing a scarf from the bag and wrapping them up inside of it, shoving the whole package deeper inside the bag, underneath everything else.

"Hey-"

Runaan jumps, nearly dropping his bag as he whips his head to the side and looks at Ethari. The latter stands at the door, looking a bit apologetic but also very amused.

Runaan, on the other hand, is _not_ amused, neither at himself nor Ethari, and he has to bite his tongue not to snap at the alpha. His temper is the absolute _worst._

"Sorry," Ethari says, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't," Runaan mutters, zipping his bag and throwing it over his shoulder. Ethari grins.

"Alright then," he says. "I was just wondering what major you are."

"Physical education."

"Yeah?" Ethari takes a long look at him. Or maybe it's not that _long,_ but for Runaan it feels like it. He shifts his weight from one foot from another and awkwardly stares back at the alpha. "That's fun. I'm an art major."

Well _that_ Runaan was not expecting.

"Cool," he says, because frankly, he doesn't know what else to say. He steps past Ethari and walks out of the bathroom, and the alpha follows right on his heels.

"I like your braid, by the way."

Runaan snaps his head to the side to look at Ethari over his shoulder, but the latter isn't looking back at him anymore. He's staring out of the window as if he never said anything, and for a moment Runaan wonders if he misheard.

"Thanks," he ends up saying.

Ethari looks at him again and grins. The sun hits his face through the window and makes his eyes look like they are glowing. Runaan's heart jumps.

_Oh, fuck,_ he thinks.


	2. Chapter 2

A week passes by, the classes start, and Runaan is still not used to having a roommate.

His alarm starts ringing, and he rolls onto his stomach on the bed, reaching over to grab his phone from the floor with his eyes still very much shut. He turns it off and sits up, and jerks _just a little_ when there is a groan on the opposite side of the room.

Ethari has his face buried in his pillow, his short, white hair a mess. His covers have been kicked to the feet of the bed, half draped on the floor, just like every morning. He wears a white tank top, contrasting his dark skin like his hair does, and it has ridden up his waist, revealing his lower back. Runaan's eyes run over his form, once, twice, and then he snaps his gaze away, getting up from the bed.

"-'s the time?" Ethari mumbles against his pillow.

"Six," Runaan answers without looking at him, grabbing clean clothes for himself along with his backbag before making his way to the bathroom door.

_"Really?"_ There's rustling, and Runaan glances over his shoulder to see how Ethari lifts his head from the pillow, half-lidded eyes staring at him. "I thought you said you have no morning classes today."

"It's a routine," Runaan simply replies, stepping into the bathroom and locking the door after himself. He sets the clothes on top of the laundry machine and shoves his hand in his bag to grab his suppressant bottles. They're both near empty; would last for no longer than two weeks. He needs to find a doctor in this city to write him a new prescription.

Dry-swallowing both pills, he hides the bottles back in his bag and washes his face over the sink before reaching for his toothbrush. He's going to leave for a run, so a shower will have to wait until he gets back.

Brushing his teeth, Runaan stares at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror, eyes running over his shoulders and arms. He should get a gym card and pick up weightlifting - it's stupid, but after meeting many other physical education majors, most of them are alphas and their physique looks much better than his, and the betas don't really fall short from that. He has yet to meet an omega who shares a major with him. It's all very frustrating, but Runaan is used to having to work twice as hard in _everything,_ so he'll just grit his teeth and do exactly that. It's not like he could complain.

He really pulled the shortest straw in this society, being an elf, and, most of all, being an omega.

Runaan rinses his mouth and gets dressed, tossing his bag over his shoulder. When he gets out of the bathroom, Ethari is fast asleep on his back, long limbs sprawled over the covers. He's snoring softly, his chest rising and falling in a calm rhythm. The entire room smells like him. It always does. Runaan doesn't like alphas with strong scents, _doesn't like alphas in general,_ but he stops to take a deep breath at the door before stepping out into the corridor.

  
  
  
  


Runaan leans his elbow at the table, other hand resting on the book to absentmindedly play with the pages. He's not a fan of biology, but it had been recommended to him to support his major, so he had picked the first course without putting much thought into it. Which, quite frankly, had been a stupid decision on his part. There's a reason he usually _doesn't_ do things without putting much thought into them, and if he had held into his old habits, he would have been smart and taken this course later on.

However, his brain has not been working lately, and he doesn't know what or who to blame it on, but come on, it is _not_ the time. He worked hard to get to this university, and he can't be slacking off now that he actually got here.

_I just need to get used to everything,_ he tells himself, tearing his gaze away from the window and down onto his book. It makes sense. He's in an entirely new environment, away from the people and places he knows, so it's only natural for him to be a little out of it. He's just going to have to _focus._

"Is this seat taken?"

Runaan's breath gets stuck in his throat and he coughs, hand fisting at the front of his shirt. There's a low _Oh, my,_ and then a hand steadily grabbing his shoulder. Runaan's face burns in embarrassment as he slowly recovers from his surprise of a coughing fit. The hand doesn't leave his shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Runaan breathes out, clearing his throat and straightening his back. His eyes flicker over to the stranger, and he nearly chokes on nothing again, saving himself at the last minute.

There's a Startouch Elf looking down at him, head tilted to the side and brows knitted in a concerned manner. There are stars pattered over his face, all over his blue cheeks like one would have freckles, and the whites of his eyes are _black,_ his lashes white. He's wearing a lowcut shirt, and it reveals a _hole_ the shape of a star on his chest, even darker than the black of his eyes. Runaan's gaze drops down to the hand still on his shoulder, and then he looks at the stranger's face again, mouth slightly open as he has long ago forgotten what he meant to say.

The stranger finally draws his hand away and smiles at him. He has a strange smile, almost playful but still very sincere, and it reaches his eyes but at the same time, it quite doesn't. Runaan doesn't know how to feel about it. "My apologies. I did not mean to scare you."

Runaan's mind goes to the first time he met Ethari, to getting startled in the bathroom, and he internally grimaces. He needs to work on keeping note of his surroundings.

"That's fine," he says. "I was just surprised."

"Very well," comes the answer, and Runaan watches how the stranger slides into the seat across from him in one smooth movement. "You did not answer, but this seat is not taken, yes?"

"It's...not," Runaan says slowly, eyes darting over to take a look at the library. It's basically empty, and there are several tables scattered around the massive space.

"This is my favorite spot in here," the stranger says, as if he'd read Runaan's thoughts. Runaan doesn't know how to respond to that, so he just stares, and the stranger stares back with a smile. He has a sweet scent, but it's strange as well. Runaan has never met an alpha with a sweet scent, but it is quite obviously the scent of an alpha male regardless. "Don't worry though, I'm more than fine with sharing it. What's your name?"

Runaan looks away from him. "It's Runaan."

"Runaan," he repeats, just a little too slowly for Runaan's liking. He knows that tone. He knows that look. He's being observed, tested - and Runaan is used to that, but there's something about this stranger that makes him more uncomfortable than usual. It feels like he sees right through him. " _Cute_. My name is Aaravos."

_Cute._

Runaan bites down onto his tongue and keeps his gaze down, staring at the bizarre picture of cells on his biology book. "Alright," he says, " _Aaravos._ Will you let me focus on studying?"

"Of course." A chuckle. "Do not let me distract you."

  
  
  
  


Aaravos does distract him. He doesn't exactly do much - he sits there in silence, leaning back on his seat with a book in his hands - but his presence alone is enough to irk at Runaan's nerves. Each time he turns a page, each time he moves, each time there's a slight change in how he _breathes -_ Runaan notices all of it. It's strong, like Ethari's, but differently; Ethari's scent is something he grew used to fairly quickly, because it was just _there,_ but Aaravos - his scent is almost poking at him, spinning around the space they are sitting at, getting stronger and suddenly fading away just to wash over him in a giant wave all over again.

After thirty minutes, Runaan has just about had it. He came to the library for the sole reason that he knew he would not be alone in his dorm room, but now he has to deal with another, much more _irritating_ alpha instead. It's not really worth it.

He heaves a deep sigh and grabs his bag, gathering his things and dumping them in. He sees from the corner of his eye how Aaravos glances over at him, and tries to ignore it.

"You are leaving?"

_What does it look like?_ "Yes."

Aaravos hums and returns to his book. "Have a good night," he says.

It's merely past five in the evening, but Runaan doesn't mention that. He grunts something incoherent in response and gets up, the chair creaking aa he pushes it back. The sound echoes in the enormous library, and so do Runaan's footsteps as he walks away. He thinks he feels someone's eyes on him as he goes, but he doesn't dare to look back to confirm it. He can still smell Aaravos when he has left the library, and he wrinkles up his nose in annoyance.

The library is located in the school building. Runaan leaves through the main entrance and starts walking towards the dormitories with long, quick steps. There are other students hanging around on the yard, especially several Sunfire Elves, sitting on the grass enjoying the evening sun. Runaan envies them, in a way - they gain their power and energy from the sun, so daytime school and work are easy for them. Runaan's kind are at their strongest during the night, which, oftentimes, is seen as a time to sleep and rest. He loves the moon, and he wishes he could stay up late every night, climb on mountains and rooftops to be closer to it - but instead, he needs to be inside, sleeping.

Runaan passes by the other dormitories and eventually enters his own building. The elevator is in use, so he takes the stairs, not having the patience to wait. There's a headache forming in the back of his head, and he curses in his mind as he fights the room's door open. Someone really needs to fix that damned lock.

Ethari's scent greets him as soon as he steps inside. The alpha is standing by the kitchenette, cutting something. He glances up at Runaan and flashes him a smile. "Oh, you're back!"

Runaan gives a mere "hmph" as a reply and kicks off his shoes, dropping his bag down to the floor. He steps over to the fridge and grabs a water bottle for himself, leaning against the wall as he takes a sip.

"I was cutting up some fruits," Ethari speaks up. He's never quiet for long. "Do you want some?"

Runaan shrugs his shoulders. "I don't kno-"

"Here," Ethari interrupts him, stepping closer to him with a piece of mango in between his fingers. He offers it towards Runaan, right by his face, and Runaan almost opens his mouth in response, but he stops himself and stares at Ethari instead.

Is he really intending to _feed_ him?

Ethari blinks at his expression, and then grins, offering the piece closer. "Don't worry," he laughs, "my hands are clean."

Runaan nearly _wheezes_ at that. He clears his throat and puts the water bottle down. "Yeah, that- that's not-"

"Are you allergic?"

"Well, no-"

He doesn't get to finish, because Ethari slips the fruit into his mouth from between his parted lips. He freezes for a moment, the piece resting on his tongue as Ethari grins and _pats his cheek._

"There you go," Ethari singsongs and reaches over to pick up another piece to pop into his own mouth.

Runaan averts his gaze and slowly munches on the fruit, crossing his arms across his chest. Ethari's laugh rings in the room, and Runaan's heart does a cartwheel.

_Not good._

"Come on," Ethari calls out. Runaan looks back at him just as his hand inches closer again, fingertips grazing Runaan's cheek as he brushes away a stray hair from his face. Runaan stops on his tracks.

_He doesn't like alphas. They are not good people._

The gesture is small, quick, but it still feels so _intimate._ Runaan doesn't know what to make of it - he doesn't understand how it is so easy for Ethari to come so close to him, as if they had known each other since forever.

Ethari's expression shifts, suddenly, into something that resembles a frown. He leans a little bit closer, sniffs at the air near Runaan, and Runaan leans back a little, his back pressing against the wall.

"Did you...meet someone?" Ethari asks, somewhat carefully, and Runaan blinks.

His mind goes back to Aaravos, at the alpha's hand lingering on his shoulder, and he chews on the inside of his cheek, stepping past Ethari to cross over to his bed. Aaravos' scent was so strong, it must have gotten stuck on him and Ethari smelled it - but then, _what about it? Why is he asking?_

_And if Ethari is able to smell the other alpha on him, would he be able to catch his scent from under his suppressants?_

"No," he says, "not really."

He swallows and pulls his braid over his shoulder, breathing in deeply as if to check on his own scent. He can only smell his shampoo. And Ethari. Damn alphas with their unnecessarily strong scents.

"Oh," Ethari says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well this was a mess of a chapter


End file.
